Monthly Archives: March 2014

Recently somebody called me to say “do you realize your Assembler (ASM) programs are still running, some 25 years after you implemented them”? Ouch, the problem with leaving comments and an audit trail, even in 1989! It was a blast-from-the-past and a welcome acknowledgement, even though secretly, I can’t really remember the code. We then got talking about how Mainframe programs can stand the test of time, through umpteen iterations of Operating System. This article will consider whether you need a Mainframe to write application code that will stand the test of time.

Spoiler alert: No you don’t; nowadays a good application development environment, a competent software coder and most importantly of all, common sense, can achieve this, for Mainframe and Distributed Systems alike. However, you might need to recompile the source code from time-to-time…

An aging industry report from Gartner Research revealed that “many Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) are unlikely to support new versions of applications on Windows XP in 2011; in 2012, it will become common.” And it may stifle access to hardware innovation: Gartner Research further states that in 2012, “most PC hardware manufacturers will stop supporting Windows XP on the majority of their new PC models.

Running Windows XP SP3 and Office 2003 in your environment after their end of support date may expose your company to potential risks, such as:

Security & Compliance Risks: Unsupported and unpatched environments are vulnerable to security risks. This may result in an officially recognized control failure by an internal or external audit body, leading to suspension of certifications, and/or public notification of the organization’s inability to maintain its systems and customer information.

Lack of Independent Software Vendor (ISV) & Hardware Manufacturers Support: A recent industry report from Gartner Research suggests “many independent software vendors (ISVs) are unlikely to support new versions of applications on Windows XP in 2011; in 2012, it will become common.” And it may stifle access to hardware innovation: Gartner Research further notes that in 2012, most PC hardware manufacturers will stop supporting Windows XP on the majority of their new PC models.

Looking at the big picture, anybody currently deploying Windows XP might want to consider the lifecycle of other Microsoft Operating System versions, for example, Windows Vista, Windows 7 & Windows 8. As the Microsoft Windows Lifecycle Fact Sheet states, mainstream support for Windows 7 ends in January 2015, less than one year from now, and so arguably the only viable option is Windows 8. The jump from Windows XP to Windows 8 is massive, not necessarily in terms of usability, but certainly and undoubtedly in terms of compatibility.

Those of us that experienced the Windows Vista, Windows 7 and more latterly Windows 8 upgrades, know from experience that each of these upgrades had interoperability challenges, whether hardware (I.E. Printers, Scanners, Removable Storage, et al), software (I.E. Bespoke, COTS, Utilities, et al) or even web browser (I.E. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, et al) related. Although many of these IT resources might be considered standalone or technology commodities, where a technology refresh is straightforward and an operational benefit, the impact on the business for user facing applications might be considerable. Of course, the most pervasive business application for capturing and processing customer information is typically classified as data entry related…

So, why might a business still be deploying Windows XP or Office 2003 today? One typical reason relates to data entry systems, either in-house written or packaged in a Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) software product. In all likelihood, one way or another, these deployments have become unsupported from a 3rd party viewpoint, either because of the Microsoft software support ethos or the COTS ISV support policy.

Looking back to when Microsoft XP was first released, it offered an environment that allowed customers to think outside of the box for alternatives to traditional development methods, or put another way, Rapid Application Development (RAD) techniques. Such a capability dictated that businesses could deploy their own bespoke or packaged systems for capturing data and thus automating the entirety of their business processes from cradle to grave with IT systems. For a Small to Medium sized Enterprise (SME), this was a significant benefit, allowing them to compete, or at least enter their market place, without deploying a significant IT support infrastructure.

However, as technology evolves, sometimes applications need to be revisited to support the latest and greatest techniques, and perhaps the SME that embraced this brave new world of RAD techniques, were left somewhat isolated, for whatever reasons; maybe business related, whether economic related (E.g. dot com or financial markets) or not.

Let’s not judge those business folks still running Windows XP or Microsoft Office 2003 today; there are probably many good reasons as to why. When they developed their business systems using a Windows XP or Office 2003 software base, I don’t think they envisaged that the next Microsoft Operating system release might eradicate their original application development investments; requiring a significant investment to upgrade their infrastructure for subsequent Windows versions, but more notably, for interoperability resources (I.E. Web Browsers, .NET, Excel, Access, ODBC, et al).

So if you’re a business running Windows XP and maybe Office 2003 today, potentially PC (E.g. Desktop, Laptop) upgrade challenges can be separated into two distinct entities; firstly the hardware platform and operating system itself; where the “standard image” approach can simplify matters; and secondly, the business application, typically data entry and processing related. Let’s not forget, those supported COTS software products, whether system utility (E.g. Security, Backup/Recovery/Archive, File Management, et al) or function (E.g. Accounting, ERP, SCM, et al) can be easily upgraded. It’s just those bespoke in-house systems or unsupported systems that require a modicum of thought and effort…

We all know from our life experiences, if we only have lemons, let’s make lemonade! It’s not that long ago that we faced the so-called Millennium Bug (Year 2000/Y2K) challenge. So that could either be a problem or an opportunity. The enlightened business faced up to the Year 2000 challenge, arguably overblown by media scare stories, and upgraded their IT infrastructures and systems, and perhaps for the first time, at least made an accurate inventory of their IT equipment. So can similar attributes be applied to this Windows XP and Office 2003 challenge?

The first lesson is acceptance; so yes we have a challenge and we need to do something about it. Even if your business has been running Windows XP or Office 2003, in an extended support mode for many years, in all likelihood, the associated business systems are no longer fit-for-purpose or could benefit from a significant face-lift to incorporate new logic and function that the business requires!

The second lesson is technology evolution; so just as RAD and SDK were the application development buzzwords of the Windows XP launch timeframe, today the term studio or application studio applies. An application studio provides a complete, integrated and end-to-end package for the creation, including the design, test, debug and publishing activities of your business applications. Furthermore, in the last decade or so, there has been a proliferation of modern language (E.g. XHTML, Java, C, C++, et al) programmers, whether formalized as IT professionals, or not (E.g. home coders).

The third lesson is as always, cost versus benefit; the option of paying for Windows XP or Office 2003 extended support ends as of April 2014. So what is the cost of doing nothing? As always, cost is never the issue, benefit is. Investing in new systems that are fit-for-purpose, will of course deliver business benefit, and if the investment doesn’t pay for itself in Year 1, hopefully your business can build a several year business case to deliver the requisite ROI.

Finally, is remote data entry possible with a Windows XP based system? Perhaps, but certainly not for each and every modern day device (E.g. Smartphone, Tablet, et al). Therefore enhancing your data entry systems, with the latest presentation techniques, might deliver significant benefit, both for the business and its employees. Remote working, whether field or home based, delivers productivity benefits, where such benefits can be measured in both business administration cost reduction and increased employee job satisfaction and associated working conditions.

So how easy can it be to replace an aging Windows XP and/or Office 2003 application?

Entrypoint is a complete application development package for creating high-performance data entry applications. Entrypoint software is built around a scalable, client-server architecture that interfaces with SQL databases for data storage. Entrypoint data entry software interfaces with standard communications products and commercial networks.

Entrypoint is a web based data entry system that includes Application Studio, a local development tool that allows the user to easily create any data entry system, based upon their specific and typically unique business requirements. The Entrypoint thin and thick clients let the user enter their data either directly via web resources or via a local workstation (E.g. PC), as per their requirements, while being connected to the same database.

Entrypoint Benefits: Today’s 21st Century business is focussed on delivering tangible business benefit and cost efficient customer facing solutions that can be rapidly deployed, while being secure and compliant:

Rapid Application Deployment: Entrypoint can be deployed in hours, sometimes and typically by non-application development personnel, safeguarding long-term management and associated TCO concerns.

Audit: The Entrypoint Audit Trail Facility (ATF) tracks all changes made to records from the time they are first entered into the case report form throughout all editing activity, regardless of the number of users working on them. The audit facility can be enabled on an application-by-application basis for all users, groups of users or individual users.

Security: Entrypoint includes a variety of features that yield the highest levels of critical security required for Clinical Trials. Its inbuilt security features let you create a customized and granular security policy specific to your needs. Entrypoint uses ODBC to connect to SQL databases for data storage, which provides an additional level of security; database logins, passwords and even built-in encryption, not always available for other data entry solutions. Optional 128-bit encryption protects all messages sent to or from the server delivering significantly greater protection, not always available for other data entry solutions.

Entrypoint is one of the simplest but most comprehensive data entry solutions that I have encountered and provides a cost-efficient solution for both the smallest and largest of businesses. Furthermore, in all likelihood, and definitely in real-life, an entry-level employee or graduate with programming skills could rapidly develop a Data Entry system with Entrypoint to replace any existing Windows XP (or any other Windows OS) based solution. This observation alone dictates that somebody who actually works for the business, not a 3rd party IT professional, can not only perform the technical work required, but more importantly, be a company employee that can easily relate to and sometimes learn about the end-to-end business.

In the IT world, change is inevitable, and sometimes change is forced upon us. Whatever your thoughts regarding end of support for Windows XP and Office 2003, there are options for you and your business to embrace this change, move forward, and improve your processes. You no longer have the option to pay Microsoft for extended support, and so why not use these money’s and invest in a system that can be easily supported, and easily adapted in the future, to provide long-term benefit for your business!